Category Archives: News Reports

Christian Writers Gather in a Spirit of Unity

27 Saturday May 2023

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By David Kitz

I am writing this report just before Pentecost Sunday, so when reflecting on the May 5th Christian writers’ conference in Surrey, BC, this scripture readily comes to mind: “When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place” (Acts 2:1, NKJV).

Yes, we gathered in one accord in one place. And yes, in various ways, I believe all the conference participants sensed the Holy Spirit, and the spirit of unity, as we came together for an afternoon and evening of teaching, inspiration, music, drama, art, and sweet fellowship at Peace Portal Alliance Church.

The conference began with a brief land acknowledgement statement that ended with this sentence: “With our First Nations brothers and sisters, we celebrate the manifold gifts of our Creator, land, sea, air, and life in all its rich and varied forms.”

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Carolyn Arends has released 14 albums and is the author of 3 critically-acclaimed books.

The evening ended with a keynote address by award-winning songwriter and recording artist Carolyn Arends. Arends sprinkled her presentation with songs that illustrated her love for her Creator and her engagement with the creative writing process. From start to finish, the conference truly was a celebration of the Creator and the creative process across the broad spectrum of the arts.

In the afternoon, a total of eight workshops were on offer in three distinct time sessions. The workshops built on the theme of faith igniting creativity. Each workshops featured some aspect of creativity in the writing, marketing, and platform building process. One of the most intriguing workshops included an “ask me anything” session where attendees were encouraged to build community as they posed writing related questions to experienced authors.

Perhaps the most appreciated feature of the conference was the visual art display in the conference area foyer organized by artist and writer Violet Nesdoly. Writers were encouraged to jot down their musings on the art on offer, then some of these thoughts were read out following the evening banquet. Also, there was a draw for a large painting that was graciously donated for the conference.

The Surrey Christian Writer’s Conference came together as a collaborative effort between The Word Guild and Inscribe Christian Writers’ Fellowship. The event beautifully illustrated this slightly modified rendering of Psalm 133:1. “How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live [and work] together in unity!”

That’s where our Creator LORD bestows His blessing.

Dropped Hat Results in Trip to Greece

19 Thursday Jul 2018

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The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD, and He delights in his way (Psalm 37:23).

It’s not often that accidentally dropping your hat at a public event leads to a trip to Athens, Greece. But that’s exactly what happened to award-winning  author David Kitz.

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David Kitz in front of the Parthenon in Athens

Kitz was attending Ottawa Member of Parliament, Andrew Leslie’s 2017 New Year’s levee, when he dropped his hat near the coat check.

“Suddenly, I felt a light tap on my back as a gentleman handed me my hat,” Kitz recounts.

“You dropped this,” the gentleman offered.

“A discussion followed and I discovered that this man, Omer Livvarcin, had a few months earlier fled Turkey following the coup attempt.”

Livvarcin explained, “I was a high-ranking officer in the Turkish navy, but following the coup everyone in the military was under suspicion. My wife’s private school in Ankara was shut down and all the teachers were dismissed. Life was becoming very difficult for us. Many of our friends were arrested. We were sure we would be next. That’s why we fled to Canada.”

After that chance meeting, Kitz and Livvarcin kept in touch. “I was troubled by the news coming out of Turkey,” Kitz explained.

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Human rights advocate — David Kilgour

In early June of this year that interest in Turkish refugees led to a call from former MP and cabinet minister, David Kilgour. Two months earlier Kilgour had been on a fact-finding mission to Athens with US members of Congress. Kilgour described the human rights abuses of the Turkish Erdogan regime as “absolutely deplorable.”

Kilgour was asked to make a return trip to Athens to advocate for the Turkish refugees stranded there, but prior commitments made that trip impossible. That’s when he called on David Kitz to go in his place.

“The four-day trip was a real eye-opener,” Kitz states.

He explains, “The Turkish refugees fell into three broad categories: journalists, teachers and intellectuals.”

“The first interview was with a senior level journalist with Zaman, the biggest daily newspaper in Turkey. In 2013, Zamon reported that truckloads of armaments were crossing from Turkey into Syria in support of ISIS fighters. The Erdogan government’s response was swift. The newspaper’s assets were seized and the journalists were arrested.

“The next day we met with a university professor and engineer, Yunus Karaca. Karaca patented an award-winning system for separating glass, metal and plastics for municipal recycling. Yet despite numerous accolades including from NASA, his career has been stifled. His passport was cancelled by the Turkish authorities, and fearing arrest, he fled with his young daughter to Greece.”

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Teachers’ faces hidden for the safety of family members still in Turkey

But the most gripping interviews were with teachers, some of whom were imprisoned for a year or more with as many as 28 men crammed into a cell.

The leader of a teachers’ union told Kitz that the 30,000 members of his union lost their jobs, and then they were systematically arrested and imprisoned for being members of a terrorist group.

Families have been wrenched apart. They live in dread of police arriving at their door. Many are in hiding. To escape they make a dangerous night-time crossing by river into Greece.

Kitz states, “Their stories affected me deeply. I returned to Ottawa with a determination to raise awareness here and across Canada.”

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Omer Livvarcin

As for Omer Livvarcin, he is a poster child for what an asylum-seeking refugee can bring to this country. After escaping with his family and little else, he now is a part-time professor at the University of Ottawa’s Telfer School of Management. He heads up two projects doing research on artificial intelligence (AI).

“Canada opened its doors to me. Now I want to give back. By using AI in military procurement I believe we can design a process that can save taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars.”

His second research project involves using AI to benefit the charitable and non-profit sector.

“Again,” Livvarcin states, “for me this is about gratitude—about giving back.”

You never can tell where unexpected events—like a failed coup or a dropped hat—might take you.

Life after politics—Retired or Inspired?

02 Saturday Apr 2016

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David Kilgour (right) stands with colleagues in front of the Swiss Parliament after a presentation on how the Chinese Government is killing members of Falun Gong to harvest their organs. Screenshot from http://www.david-kilgour.com

David Kitz
Spur Ottawa Correspondent

Have you ever wondered how former politicians spend their time? The media often portrays retired politicians as simply living the good life on a gold-plated government pension.

Some retired politicians, however, put their time and energy into serving the Lord. David Kilgour and Jack Murta are examples of two retired members of parliament who are actively engaged in a higher calling. In one form or another they are working in the service of the King.

Both men have occupied seats at the cabinet table, but now once a week at noon you can find them waiting on tables, serving the homeless at the Union Mission.

“It’s one thing I always look forward to,” Kilgour states with obvious enthusiasm. “It keeps me grounded.”

“I have made this my prayer,” Murta adds, “Lord, help me to love you more, because if I love you more, I will love others more. I need to live out that prayer wherever I go.”

Murta served as the Progressive Conservative Member of Parliament for the Manitoba riding of Lisgar from 1970 to 1988. In the Mulroney government of the mid 1980’s, he served first as Minister of State for Multiculturism and later as Minister of State for Tourism.

“Security waves us through saying ‘Ah, it’s the Happy Gang!’”

“I admit I was quite disillusioned with politics by the end. It’s not an easy life—the constant travel and pressures of office.”

After leaving politics, Murta did not return to Ottawa until 2003. It was a man from across the aisle, David Kilgour, who welcomed Murta back. “For the first few weeks I stayed with David and Laura.”

What drew Murta back to Ottawa was his involvement in the Parliamentary Prayer Breakfast. For many years he has been the guiding hand behind the weekly prayer meetings among members of parliament.

“I see this as my vocation now,” he states with calm conviction.

But in his modest way Murta disagrees with the term “guiding hand.”

“It’s really the Lord who does the guiding.”

The group meets on Parliament Hill at 7:00 on Wednesday mornings. Every week, Murta picks up Kilgour and two or three current members of parliament on the way there.

“When we arrive on the Hill, security looks through the window of the car and waves us through. ‘Ah, it’s the Happy Gang!’ they always say.

“Most mornings we have from 20 to 25 MPs in the room—across all party lines. In addition to that we have a prayer meeting for parliamentary staffers at noon. That’s usually a younger set—in their twenties or thirties.”

“An estimated 80 percent of the persecution of faith communities around the world today is done to Christians. That’s a good part of what motivates me to speak out.”

Though David Kilgour actively participates with Murta, his primary area of service and expertise is in a different field.

He was first elected to the House of Commons in 1979 for an Edmonton riding and continued to serve in that role through seven elections, until 2006. In the Chretien government from 1997-2002, he served as Secretary of State for Latin America and Africa. Then from 2002-2003 he served as the Secretary of State for Asia-Pacific.

It’s this broad international experience that Kilgour draws on as he presses for human rights around the world.

“An estimated 80 percent of the persecution of faith communities around the world today is done to Christians. That’s a good part of what motivates me to speak out, but we all need to do it on a united, interfaith front. The cause is any persecuted religious or cultural group.”

Kilgour is active in a number of international organizations which promote democracy and human rights. For him this means a good deal of travel as he speaks on these topics in various world capitals. In January his advocacy work took him to Tbilisi, Georgia.

Earlier this month he spoke at Queens University at a conference organized by the Christian Legal Fellowship. His topic was “Should Christians Speak out on Human Rights?”

But Kilgour does more than give speeches and chair committees. He also has written a number of books. In 2009, along with lawyer and human rights advocate David Matas, he wrote Bloody Harvest: The Killing of Falun Gong for their Organs. For their work Kilgour and Matas won the 2009 Human Rights Prize from the International Society for Human Rights, in Switzerland.

On April 2, David Kilgour will be the plenary speaker at the Ottawa Christian Writers Conference.

“C. S. Lewis called himself God’s terrier. I like to think of myself that way too,” Kilgour says with a grin. “If freedom of religion exists in a country, other freedoms, such as freedom of speech and association will usually exist too.”

Perhaps the examples of Kilgour, Murta, and others like them can help restore the public’s perception of the retired political class.

Is God calling you to write? Five ways to know

19 Saturday Mar 2016

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Denyse O’Leary
Guest columnist for Spur Ottawa

A lot of people dream of being a writer, or at least of getting something published. Maybe that’s you. You want to write, maybe you even feel God leading you in that direction, but you don’t know where to start. Maybe you struggle with self-doubt, fear of failure, or naysayers. There will always be reasons not to step out in faith. Professional Christian writers offer advice to help you recognize if God is calling you to write and how to take the first steps.

Are you called? Blogger, speaker, and author, Mary DeMuth gives the first clue: People you don’t know tell you that something you wrote made a difference to them.

When people do this, they are not just trying to encourage you. They really mean it. Look at what specifically you were writing when they were impacted. Chances are, that’s your calling.

Do you want to write, but responsibilities always get in the way? Don’t feel discouraged just because you waited so long, says C. J. Darlington, author of Thicker Than Blood and Jupiter Winds. Your life experience is hidden treasure you can incorporate into your writing.

In my experience, new writers sometimes assume that the “hidden treasure” needs to be a dramatic testimony, but alas, their own journey has been a call to quiet, daily faithfulness. If that’s you, don’t fret. Those dutiful years, logged as a nurse, teacher, or police officer, give you a solid foundation to build on. The faithfulness you learned is a treasure you can help unlock in the lives of others.

Can you accept a learning curve? Jerry Jenkins, author of the bestselling Left Behind series, advises, “Accept that you will be bad at first, just like we all are, at everything we try, for the first time. Humility is a good starting point.”

It’s true. Humility is a good ending point, too, especially for Christians.

Some new writers I meet are petrified that early flubs and flops prove that they’re no good. Here’s the key: Don’t focus on how steep your learning curve is. Focus on actually learning from your mistakes. Identify the problems with your writing. Figure out what you need to do differently. Then check with others to make sure the changes you make are helping you communicate more effectively.

Can you accept the rocky road? Jim Denney, who writes science fiction for young adults, reminds us that a vocation in writing has its ups and downs, like a marriage. That’s just as true for famous writers as it is for amateurs.

By the way, as any Word Guild veteran will tell you, the fame and glamour one hears about are grossly overstated—unless, of course, you think battling a snowstorm to host a panel discussion at the library is fame, or that glamour looks like pulling all-nighters, pouring over revisions from your critique group.

How do I start? Beth Ziarnik, who writes romantic suspense fiction, says start by setting up a dedicated work area, including whatever supplies you need. Then start reading the kind of work you want to write. Set aside a small budget for handbooks, courses, memberships, and conventions. Join a community of writers, like the Word Guild, and attend conferences to learn the craft.

If you want to take writing seriously, make time for it. Stay home and write. The more time you invest honing your skill and connecting with other Christian writers, the better you’ll be able to use your talents to serve God.

Writing isn’t much different from any other job (or second job). You have to sense a need, make it a priority, risk failure, weather the bad times, and keep learning. You also need to pray a lot—really, a lot.

On April 2, the Ottawa Christian Writers’ Fellowship is holding a conference at Greenbelt Church, on Shefford Road. If you are interested, we’d love to hear from you. Check out our website or email me at denyseoleary@gmail.com.

Denyse O’Leary is a Canadian Christian journalist, author, and blogger.

Ottawa Christian Writers’ Conference

12 Saturday Mar 2016

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Here is a guest post from about an upcoming writers’ conference that I am involved in organizing:

Hi from Denyse O’Leary on behalf of the Ottawa Christian Writers’ Fellowship, suggesting you join us April 2 if you are in the area, for all writerly things, at Greenbelt Church. We have a great and highly affordable conference, featuring a noted speaker:

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The Honourable David Kilgour

Plenary speaker: The Honourable David Kilgour who will be speaking on Developing your Platform as a Writer

And a choice of workshops:

A1: Memoir Writing     OR    A2: Dialogue Writing

B1: Article Writing        OR    B2: Editing Fiction

C: Panel Discussion and Q & A

PLUS a special deal on critiques of your work. For $25, a professional editor will look at your work.

This year, OCWF can provide manuscript critiques (for half the usual price). For $25, you can submit the first 5 pages in advance, and book a 15-minute appointment with a professional editor. Don’t miss this opportunity to find the best writer in you! **

That could save you dozens of wasted hours learning the hard way.

Now here I am, yer humble hack, to answer three burning questions people ask about writing in general:

  1. Do I have what it takes to be a writer?

That’s not the right question. Probably half a million people in North America make their living mainly by their ability to write. Whether you could be one of them depends on whether you are willing to accept a position like the ones they have. You must start by finding out what genres of writing are available and whether one would fit you. Newsletters? Fiction? Non-fiction? Screenplays? Devotions? One must research the field to see where one’s skills would fit.

  1. Can I make enough money writing?

Yes. No. I don’t know. I’ve been a freelance editor and writer most of my life, and made enough money. But one needs some business skills to be self-employed, which most writers are at least some of the time. So assuming that you can find a genre that works for you, consider whether you can also be successfully self-employed. Writing is a well-developed business for self-employed persons, but one needs to learn a different skill set from that of finding a job.

  1. Does it matter if I often feel discouraged, as if I am not getting anywhere with my writing?

Sure. It matters in the same way that discouragement matters to doctors, preachers, teachers, restauranteurs, and politicians. In each case, we look to the origin of the problem. Maybe we are not cut out for a writing career of any sort. But then again, maybe we are not approaching it in the right way. Maybe we aren’t dealing effectively with barriers and distractions. The best approach to those kinds of problems is to spend more time with other writers, listening to and learning form their struggles and sharing ours with them. That’s why we have an OCWF and a Word Guild.

See you at the conference,

Denyse

Denyse O’Leary

Standing up for conscience rights

05 Saturday Mar 2016

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Photo by Robert Stanley | Dollar Photo Club

“This has huge implications for the medical profession and it has huge implications for the people who will select medicine as a career.”

Craig Macartney
Spur Ottawa Writer

While Canadians wait for the Liberals to introduce legislation on physician assisted suicide, numerous Christian organizations are sounding alarm bells about the importance of protecting doctors’ conscience rights. Although the new laws have not yet been tabled, several provincial medical colleges are already demanding their members provide referrals and in some cases actually perform contentious procedures.

At a February 24 press conference on Parliament Hill, the Christian Heritage Party called for clear protection of conscience rights in the upcoming assisted suicide legislation.

“All Canadians, including doctors and other healthcare professionals, deserve the protection of their consciences,” says Rod Taylor, Leader of the Christian Heritage Party. “If we want a citizenry focused on the needs of others, and the rights of others, we must allow those citizens to honourably carry out their duties with a clean conscience.”

The day after the press conference the government committee exploring the issue recommended that the new laws require all doctors to provide referrals for assisted suicide, regardless of their beliefs.

“This has huge implications for the medical profession and it has huge implications for the people who will select medicine as a career, especially in the long term,” says Larry Worthen, Executive Director of the Christian Medical and Dental Society (CMDS). “It’s a question of respect for human rights. Doctors with conscientious objections should be respected by our society, as any other minority.”

“If somehow the courts believe it’s someone’s democratic right to end their lives, under certain circumstances, I don’t feel it’s a doctor’s obligation to fulfill that role.”

Worthen warns that Canadians with conscientious objections will likely avoid medicine if their rights are not respected.

One local doctor shared his concerns with Spur Ottawa.

“Even though I can think of scenarios where physician assisted suicide might be, in some way, defensible, I think it’s a really tiny minority of cases. My big concern about the potential legislation is the harm that can come to thousands of individuals who might feel pressured to make decisions to end their lives.”

The doctor, who declined to be named because of potential of repercussions, says there is so much room for abuse of vulnerable people. One example he gave is for adult children of chronically ill parents to pressure them into ending their lives.

“As physicians, we are trained to protect and help the vulnerable. It doesn’t seem the role of a physician to counsel someone to end their life. If somehow the courts believe it’s someone’s democratic right to end their lives, under certain circumstances, I don’t feel it’s a doctor’s obligation to fulfill that role.”

“We need concerned Christians to express their support.”

Like Worthen, the doctor is also concerned about the impacts this could have on future doctors.

“I would be concerned for the generation of physicians behind me. When the government made it legal to do abortions, initially it was easy for physicians to not refer for abortions. But twenty years down the line, you have scenarios where there can be a lawsuit against the physician for wrongful birth. In the 1980s that wasn’t an issue, but now it’s commonplace.”

Following the Supreme Court decision to allow assisted suicide, CMDS formed a coalition of Christian organizations lobbying parliament and provincial legislatures to protect conscience rights. Worthen says it’s really important that concerned Christians voice their opinions with government officials—and the coalition has made that extremely easy.

“We need concerned Christians to express their support. Our website www.moralconvictions.ca has a platform that allows people to directly contact officials to express their concern about these issues.”

As they wait for the legislation to be tabled, CMDS is also fighting the battle on another front, with what they hope will be a trump card. Last spring they took the Ontario College of Physicians and Surgeons to court, challenging their policy that requires all doctors to refer and sometimes perform abortion and assisted suicide.

“If the legislation does not protect conscience rights, we still have our court challenge. We filed a legal application in the Ontario court on behalf of five doctors who are all concerned about the fact that the Ontario College is taking away their conscience rights.

“There are extreme challenges in the work we are doing. We would really appreciate if people would keep us in their prayers.”

Taking men’s ministry to the next level

27 Saturday Feb 2016

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Next Level

Sydney Missionary Bible College (Flickr CC).

“Without spiritually-intentional friends we drift into spiritual stagnation.”

David Kitz
Special to Spur Ottawa

For three years, Jesus ran the most effective men’s ministry group ever. It went on to change the world. In terms of small group men’s ministry, Jesus set the gold standard.

This begs the question: How effective and life changing is men’s ministry in your church or fellowship circle?

If your answer is not effective or minimally effective, you are likely not alone.

Since January 2000, Lyle Johnson of Nextlevel Ministries has been trying to change that situation for men in the Ottawa region, and now Nextlevel is growing beyond its Ottawa base.

“Many men are languishing in relational isolation,” Johnson states. “They’re paying a big price, and that’s particularly true for Christian men.”

The rationale for his ministry is quite straightforward.

“A follower of Jesus Christ who navigates ‘The Way’ alone will not fare well. Without a few spiritually-intentional friends, serving as a social anchor, he will drift into spiritual stagnation or moral temptation.”

Johnson sees intentionality and accountability as keys to growth.

Nextlevel’s mission is “to provide men with the opportunity to experience life-transforming spiritual friendships with other men.”

“Growth doesn’t happen by accident,” Johnson explains. “We don’t grow spiritually unless we intend to grow. It happens best when we are connected and accountable in true friendship. It’s a friendship that goes deeper than just talking about last night’s hockey game.”

Currently, 35 Nextlevel covenant groups meet weekly to open the scriptures and their lives to one another. As a result, 250 men are experiencing deep spiritual friendships as they commit to encourage each other as faithful disciples of Jesus Christ.

In 2015 Nextlevel started groups in three new cities: Cornwall, Kingston, and Napanee.

Later this month Lyle Johnson is flying to Vancouver to train group leaders there. He admits that while that’s exciting, there is still so much to do in Ottawa.

“Here in Ottawa, we probably have 5000 to 10,000 Christian men who need to be connected into lifelong friendship groups, centred on Jesus.”

“We believe a man needs ‘friends for life’ to share all the trials and joys of his life, for all the years of his life.”

Andrew Nicholls has been involved in one of Johnson’s covenant groups for more than ten years. After a time he also began leading his own group.

“Being part of two different Nextlevel groups has given me what I have desired for a long time: close friendships with men who are always there for me,” he explains. “It is a safe place to share my darkest thoughts and experiences, as well as mountain top moments in my walk of faith.”

Nicholls goes on to say, “The biggest take away for me is drawing closer to Jesus through my relationship with my brothers in the group. I know God the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit better, due to my walk with these brothers.”

Jesus might agree that small groups of men like these can change the world.

Ottawa church planters swim against the current

20 Saturday Feb 2016

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“We need to engage with the culture and the best place to do that is in the city.”

David Kitz
Spur Ottawa Correspondent

It takes an extraordinary level of faith and courage to buck the trend and swim against the current. But that’s exactly what three young pastors are doing as they plant churches in Ottawa.

At a time when many aging congregations are dwindling, and churches are shutting down, these enterprising men of faith are doing just the opposite. They are starting thriving young congregations that are impacting their neighbourhoods for Christ.

Jon Ruby

Jon Ruby speaks at Union City Church. Photo courtesy of Jon Ruby.

These church plants are also bucking another trend. Rather than starting churches in the new and growing suburbs, they are setting up shop near the urban core.

“Really for generations now, the church has been fleeing to the suburbs,” says Jeff Scott, pastor of the newly planted WestVillage Church. “We have been living in our Christian bubbles. But that’s not what Christ called us to do. We need to engage with the culture and the best place to do that is in the city—in the urban space. This is where the influencers live.”

The WestVillage Church held its first public service at Notre Dame High School on January 17, with about 240 in attendance. Since then, their Sunday attendance has consistently been in the range of 200.

“Unfortunately, many of these new believers didn’t feel at home or particularly welcomed in most of the churches around the city.”

Scott freely acknowledges the help he received from the Metropolitan Bible Church.

“A lot of research, vision casting, and ground work took place before our launch. The Met is really our mother church. None of this would have happened without their support.”

Before launching the WestVillage Church, Scott participated in an intensive two-year training program for church planters called C2C Network. One of Scott’s C2C training partners was Jon Ruby.

Ruby also recently launched a church in the urban core called Union City Church. While the WestVillage Church is geared more to urban hipster, Ruby’s aim is to reach those who have fallen through the cracks—addicts and those in trouble with the law.

Ruby’s passion for this demographic group stems from personal experience. Though he was raised in the Church by loving Christian parents, as a young adult he became trapped in a world of drugs and crime.

In 2006, after his turn around, Ruby began working at Jericho Road Ministries, where he developed an addiction treatment program. Consequently, he has seen many lives transformed by the grace of Christ.

“Unfortunately, many of these new believers didn’t feel at home or particularly welcomed in most of the churches around the city,” he explains.

This need led Ruby to found Union City Church.

“We need to be present here, living locally.”

Union City Church is currently meeting at the Bible House, but they are in negotiations to relocate to the Hintonburg neighbourhood. If that relocation occurs, they will be near neighbours to a third church plant, Resurrection Church, which meets in rented space at the Orpheus Theatre on Fairmont Street.

Ben Jolliffe is the founding pastor of Resurrection Church. In March 2014, he moved here from Toronto with his young family and a goal of planting a church in the city. Today the church has outgrown its space, with regular Sunday attendance approaching 100.

Jolliffe attributes much of that success to a very purposeful engagement with the people of the neighbourhood.

“We need to be present here—living locally—meeting with our neighbours.”

When asked why he planted a church in this urban environment he say, “It’s actually quite simple. There are more lost people here, per square foot, than anywhere else. We need to engage with them. Many of them don’t have cars. They’re not going to come to our churches in the suburbs.”

Resurrection Church is part of the Presbyterian Church in America, which is doctrinally conservative and evangelical. Sunday services follow a liturgical format. Jolliffe draws inspiration from the work of Tim Keller and his urban-centric church in New York.

There are those who would say churches are dying in the city. That may be true, but right here in Ottawa we have three churches proving that after death comes resurrection.

Dig and Delve Conference Hits Its Target

21 Saturday Nov 2015

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Based on the enthusiasm expressed by some attendees, the recent Dig and Delve Conference in Ottawa, Canada was a huge success. Over lunch University of Ottawa students Noah Galbraith, Sebastian Tansil and Alex Hoffmann discussed what they saw as personal highlights of the conference.

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Photo of Dr. John Patrick courtesy of Mark Peterkins for Spark Ottawa

Noah Galbraith was particularly impressed by Dr. Fazale Rana’s conference opening lecture entitled, “Finding Adam: Is There a Scientific Case for a Historical Adam and Eve?”

“I was impressed by the way he (Dr. Rana) integrated mainstream science with biblical teaching. And he used accessible language. You didn’t have to be a biology major to follow what he was saying.”

Dr. Rana presented evidence from the fields of microbiology and genetics, which indicates that all of humanity descended from a common ancestral couple—the Biblical Adam and Eve. Furthermore, the current scientific literature on this topic acknowledges this common descent from our first parents.

This is the second annual Dig and Delve Conference and it took place at Dominion-Chalmers United Church on Friday evening November 13th through Saturday the 14th.

George Sinclair of Church of the Messiah is the chairman of the organizing committee. He was pleased with the tenor of the conference and the growth in attendance.

“Last year we had 275 attend our inaugural conference, but this year by my estimation we doubled that number. It took a step of faith. We moved to a larger venue and looking back we can see it was the right move.”

Reverend Sinclair went on to explain that the committee’s goal is to grow this annual event into one of the premier world class conferences on Christian apologetics.

“We want to do apologetics humbly, not in a confrontational style. It should be an event where skeptics can ask their questions and get a respectful answer without hostility.”

The theme of this year’s conference was BEING HUMAN: Scientifically? Uniquely? Sexually? Freely? Really?

The organizers felt that, “With many contradictory voices at play it was important that we create a hospitable conference to reflect on the tough questions of human origins, sexual and gender identities, and most importantly a Biblical perspective on what it means to be the image of God in the world today. We hope that our conference will stir healthy conversations that push us toward lives of integrity as we follow Jesus.”

Back at the lunch table three university students were engaged in one of those healthy conversations. They were soon joined by a fourth friend Michael Tan.

Sebastian Tansil commented that he gained a lot from Dr. John Patrick’s lectures. “I realized we need to know how to think about these topics. We need to know the questions to ask.”

His friend Alex Hoffmann found John Stackhouse’s lecture on a survey of worldviews particularly meaningful. “Unlike the notions of karma, the Christian worldview makes it clear that because of our sin nature we are incapable of our own salvation.”

Michael Tan added that the real meat is the gospel. “We need to broaden our approach to the gospel. All these questions are avenues by which we can engage with others.”

It’s these conversations and the ones that will follow in the months ahead that will determine if Dig and Delve 2015 has truly hit its target.

Next year’s Dig and Delve Conference is slated for November 4th and 5th.

This report by David Kitz originally appeared in Spark Ottawa.